by Setlu Vairst
***
The humans had found a way through the maze of tunnels in the mountainside and a continuous stream of them were pouring out into the land of Essilon. They had come with a single purpose and they were to carry out that purpose; they were to slaughter every single beast that they could find.
Somehow, the humans had found out about the Armada of the Beasts and over a time stories began to be told. It was told that the beasts were to march upon the humans and destroy them. At first, these stories remained as stories but then word was brought that many beasts were heading toward the mountains. Beasts of all kinds were walking together, all heading for a singular destination, and then the humans began to pay more serious attention to the stories that had grown, and then they decided to take action. The human camps grouped together, slaughtering all their animals, and then the humans had set out for the mountains.
If there was to be a day of reckoning then the humans were not going to wait for the day to arrive, they were going to make that day arrive. The groups of human groups began to join other human groups, killing those that wanted to remain apart from the main group, the red-clothed humans killing any of the blue-clothed humans that they came across. On many occasion, the blue clothed humans decided to join the amassing red-clothed army rather than be slain.
The human army grew, with smaller groups moving through the forests, all heading to the forest that bordered the desert over which the stream of beasts had been seen to be moving, heading toward the mountains that appeared to be their final destination. The human groups began joining together and heading toward the mountains and, now that they had arrived, they were going to ensure that if there was to be a battle then they would be the victors.
The humans poured through a number of passages, fighting bees and wasps, winning over them and then through the mountain to do battle with the wild tigers, lions, pumas, and any others beasts that tried to stand in their way. Many humans died and many great cats died and the air continued to be filled with the sounds of slaughter as the humans continued to pour through and many other beasts came from the plane of Essilon to do battle with them. The air was filled with the sounds of slaughter.
The battle moved on, up towards the peaks and through the vegetation and into the passage that led onto the great plane that was Essilon.
And through all of this Shane slept and Flack slept, and the murderous day carried on without them bearing witness.
